Collected miscellany

Boundaries:

Please don't pressure me to reveal more about myself before I am ready.

If I post art: do not repost to other sites without permission and do not feed my work into AI programs.

I do not mind having a respectful conversation if our opinions don't align. But I'm here to have a good time and not fight for my life so do not expect any in-depth debates from me.

Appearance:

From the sketches, it looks like his design hasn't changed all that much from beta. To be fair, his design is one of the strongest in the game so I'm not surprised (biased, I know). Similarly, Mehrak doesn't look too different. Though she appears to have more of a personality. Maybe the plan was to have some comedic moments where Mehrak throws a tantrum or "scolds" Kaveh for doing something she doesn't agree with. I would've loved to see the early designs and dynamics between the two.

I will say, I prefer the splash art with the projections and equations over the one we got in game. But I get why it was changed to something sleeker.

Personality:

An architect with a strong sense of empathy. Kind in nature and very sensitive to others' feelings.

I feel a lot of players forget that kindness is a core part of Kaveh's character. I don't have much to say on this, the game does try to showcase this side of him when he's talking to characters other than Alhaitham (though it doesn't happen nearly enough).

There's a significant contrast between his outside persona and inner world, as he often appears cheerful, confident and takes everything in his stride, but deep inside, he's hurt easily and carries a strong sense of guilty.

No surprises here, this is basically what we get in-game. His character story does a great job with showing the more melancholic, angsty side of his life. Though I do wish we saw a bit more that in his interactions too. Not that I need him to be actively upset or anything, just more references to his mindset and the experiences that lead him there (PoP you will always be famous- and what do you know, my wish was granted by the epilogue of the latest Sumeru archon quest!)

So that's all there was in the spreadsheet-looking portion of his description. But there are additional paragraphs regarding his personality.

Kaveh is also very candid, critical and hot-tempered, and a little self centered, having no filter or regard for common curtesy when speaking his mind.

This screenshot looks different to the others and there's speculations about his kit. Which leads me to believe this may have been a leak or something. The information presented is accurate but I get the sense it was written by someone who wasn't involved in his development.

OP is taken aback by "Kaveh" and "self centered" being in the same sentence. This might be controversial of me to say; but it does align his personality. That's not to say he's malicious or selfish (the post goes on to clarify this too). But he possesses an artist's pride; even if he's insecure about other aspects of his life, this is the one thing he knows he's good at. This facet of him is strong and unshakable, and personally, I love that he possesses this level of confidence. Of course, it often leads to friction between himself, his clients, and the culture at large. But that's what makes it so interesting!

He has taken up stage magic...in an attempt to showcase his genuius inventions to an audiance. Unfortunately, he is still learning the ropes...his shows end up unintentionally hilarious.

This is the final paragraph from that screenshot. I desperately want to know the original source. It sounds like Kaveh's concept has been fairly solid from the start (kind hearted but complicated architect). But their presentation of him has shifted a lot. It sounds like he was supposed to be more of a comedic character- likely to offset Alhaitham's stoic attitude.

The humour would've come from seeing this egotistical, prideful guy try to do something and flop in front of an audience. Maybe it's supposed to come across as endearing to the players because he's so earnest and kind.

I cannot tell you how glad I am the game did NOT go in this direction for Kaveh. There are still some comedic undertones in his writing, sure. But for the most part, his struggled are presented as something that trouble him, whilst also becoming building blocks for who he is today. This calmer, more down-to-earth writing style ingratiated him to the players so much more. Similarly, I'm glad Mehrak became a genuinely and steadfast companion to Kaveh, rather than yet another character who causes more friction in his life.

A quick summary:

Growing up, his speech and emotional processing were limited

As a result, he was bullied by his peers

He grew out it by the time he was a young adult

He was originally supposed to be from the "school of life"? Amurta?

His beta design has more details

He was older than Kaveh

Let's start with his design, the headphone tassel creates compositional symmetry by mirroring the long hair strand on the other side. It's quite cute and reminds me of Kaveh's earrings.

However, asymmetry is a big part of Alhaitham's design philosophy, so I get why it had to go. Same situation with the gold pattern on his top/torso. The lack of pattern in that area leaves a huge block of grey but I never questioned it. If anything, I assumed the designers left it blank to show off his abs lmao.

Onto the meat of the discussion: his lore and personality.

personality:

We have no idea which stage of development this is from. I bring this up because I'm curious as to how far into development this version is, and how much had to be changed between this and the official in-game version we got.

"As a character that's a bit of a nerd and very intelligent, Alhaitham is almost impossible to find fault with."

It sounds like the devs had a strong idea about who they wanted Alhaitham to be. (I feel like this wasn't the case for Kaveh but more on him later). He's stoic, strong, and intelligent, almost unnervingly so. Someone who was untouchable and difficult to relate to, at least to begin with.

"What really moves Alhaitham is when the people around him have strong views. Even when their opinions run counter to his own..."

No surprises there. I think cool, stoic characters often come across as haughty or arrogant because they don't give their respect freely. Alhaitham isn't either of those things. But with his near-perfect demeanour and desire for mentally strong friends, I can see why that might rub people the wrong way.

...he certainly doesn't mind hearing others express themself.

Adding on from the previous point, I don't get the sense Alhaitham challenges people on purpose. But he does enjoy untangling opposing philosophies and likes people who can keep up. I can totally see a younger Alhaitham getting bored of his classmates and their half-baked arguments. Again, it's nothing personal but it does make him difficult to get along with. Ironically, this facet of his personality makes him very compatible with Paimon- who's outspoken and curious.

Onto lore:

Perhaps due to a life-threatening situation he faced early in life, as a child, Alhaitham was slow to respond in social settings and his speech was also sluggish. Other kids his age called him a dunce.

Okay, I tried really hard not to copy/paste the entire thread because it makes for a tedious read. But this chunk is so fascinating to me so buckle up-

We don't get this "life-threatening situation" in the final version of his lore, nor is it expanded upon in this summary. I assume it's the same incident that took his parents? I'm fairly confident in saying he was the sole survivor in this hypothetical crisis (even though there's no backing for it). Whether he made it out due to his intelligence or sheer luck is up in the air for me.

In the official lore, Kaveh initially reaches out to Alhaitham because he thought he was bullied. When in reality, Alhaitham was simply uninterested in socialising. Interesting that this version of Alhaitham was actually a victim of bullying. I still see him coming out on top though. He probably used people's assumptions about him to his advantage. Besides, he probably felt empowered enough with the support of his grandmother. This backstory communicates to us that Alhaitham is mentally strong and well adjusted despite the trauma. He doesn't let the past weigh him down.

Still, I can't help but wonder if he ever felt vulnerable, lonely, or yearned for a 'normal' childhood experience.

But once he was old enough to attend school, he displayed an astonishingly peculiar trait- he rarely said a word, but on the occasion he did get talking, he would express many coherent and complete thoughts on the topic.

I'm curious about whether young-Alhaitham wanted to express himself but simply couldn't. Though judging by the fact he chose to self-study/home school shortly after enrolling, the answer is likely 'no'. Alhaitham cares about what he cares about. If he wanted to connect with his peers, he would've made more of an effort to do so. Again, feels like his characterisation is and strong and consistent.

The reason was his brain was developing more quickly than most people in terms of knowledge retention and intellect, but the cost of that was his language and emotions developed more slowly than average.

A character who was behind in his speech development becomes a linguist, the irony has to be intentional (then again, he wasn't originally a Haravatat?).

A lot of people already headcanon Alhaitham as autistic; his preference for routine, aversion to noise, and stilted social skills do align with traits commonly associated with autism. Adding selective mutism into the mix would've solidified it as canon to me even if the writers didn't use the term "autistic" explicitly. I really wish they kept this part of his back story. It's not like they'd have to change any of his in-game interactions since it's stated he grew out of the mutism. We need more dynamic disability representation (that is, disabilities that fluctuate in severity depending on various factors. Another example of this would be ambulatory wheelchair users). Being disabled is rarely black or white, all or nothing, it exists on a gradient.

Imagine the hero of Sumeru being somebody who sometimes loses the ability to speak, or otherwise require social accommodations without compromising any of his "cool" traits.